The Codcast

In this live episode of The Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon‘s Jennifer Smith is joined by Danielle Allen of Harvard University and Partners in Democracy to discuss how Massachusetts’s democracy is doing.

CommonWealth’s Jennifer Smith is joined by the head of the Boston Housing Authority, Kenzie Bok, to discuss housing justice, the role of public housing in the city and commonwealth, and what’s on the horizon in the world of public housing.

John McDonough and Paul Hattis talk to Robbie Goldstein, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, who talks about the inadequate preparedness of the country’s public health infrastructure for COVID, efforts to strengthen local public health departments in Massachusetts, and his belief in the public health-focused approach to problems at Mass. and Cass in the face of criticism that they aren’t working.

Jennifer Smith talks to UMass Amherst professor Jack Schneider, who thinks high-stakes testing is the wrong way to go in the effort to improve schools and boost student achievement.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s quest to audit the Massachusetts Legislature – by court, by ballot initiative, even by song and dance – is keeping her locked in an uneasy standoff with leaders of the branch of government where she previously served.

In the fight against ever-rising drug prices, attention is increasingly zeroing in on a little-noticed middleman of the pharmaceutical chain – pharmacy benefit managers.

The Worcester Chamber of Commerce recently announced its support for the launch of the Worcester Guardian, a nonprofit digital news organization. Tim Murray, the Chamber’s president, joins CommonWealth’s Michael Jonas to discuss the Guardian, local nonprofit journalism, and questions of funding and independence.

It’s been a long and winding 11-year road for the Dorchester Food Co-op, which will be opening its doors to the public this month. It marks the return of community and work-owned food co-ops to Boston, five years after the last local grocery co-op shuttered. 

Ed Augustus is the first Secretary of the newly-formed Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. He joins CommonWealth’s Jennifer Smith for a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges facing housing in Massachusetts, including shelter capacity, low vacancy rates, and changing patterns of work.

State Rep. Peter Durant and Evan Horowitz of the Tufts Center for State Policy Analysis join CommonWealth’s Bruce Mohl to discuss Massachusetts’s Right to Shelter law in relationship to the current shelter emergency and housing crisis.